All Chapters of Vows Written In Poison: Chapter 1 - Chapter 6

NORAGideon pulled away from me to answer the phone.His voice changed completely. Warm. Gentle. Close."I know. I could not sleep either."He listened, then took his jacket from the chair."I will be there in twenty minutes."He hung up and walked to the door without looking at me."Gideon?""I have to go out.""It is almost midnight."The front door closed.I stood in the bedroom with my hand pressed where his had been. The baby felt like a weight I could not carry and could not put down.I did not sleep. I lay in the dark, listening for his car. It came back at four. His footsteps went straight to the guest room.Morning came gray and quiet. I went downstairs with powder over the shadows under my eyes.Gideon sat at the breakfast table reading his tablet. He did not look up.Greta smiled at me from the stove. "Good morning, Mrs. Hale. Did you sleep well?""Very well, thank you."Another lie. My whole life was lies now.Greta's eyes stayed on my face a moment too long. She did not b

NORADane did not sit.He lowered his glass and tilted his head toward Gideon, as if he were considering a polite request. "I will, in a moment. I have one more thing to say, and then I will gladly sit."Gideon said nothing. He turned back to Mr. Garner.That was all the permission Dane needed.A dozen guests had drifted in around him by now, men in dark suits with drinks in their hands, smiling like people waiting for a show to start. I took the chair in the corner and tried to become part of the wall."I will not repeat what everyone already knows," Dane said, loud enough to carry across the room. "I only want to ask the Hale family for one small gesture. Something to show respect for my family's loss.""What did you have in mind?" a man asked, clearly enjoying it.Dane smiled. "The chowder."A waiter was already wheeling in a silver tureen. Fish stew, thick and steaming, the club's old harbor recipe. The smell hit me from ten feet away, salt and oil and boiled fish, and my stomach

CAMILLAThe Hale family dinner happened once a month. Rosalind insisted on it, and no one dared to skip it. Tonight was my first in three years, and I had been back in the city for only three days.I stood at the drawing room window and watched Gideon's car turn up the drive. Finally. We had been waiting for over an hour.Rosalind kept checking her watch. Imogen sat scrolling through her phone, bored. I kept my smile in place. Patient and calm the whole time.Gideon stepped out first. Then he walked around and opened the passenger door.Nora climbed out slowly. Her hair was messy, and her eyes were half shut, as if she had been sleeping against the window. A strip of white tape showed at her hairline.How domestic.I walked into the hall just as they came through the door. Gideon looked tired. Nora looked worse."Gideon!" I threw my arms around him before he could step back. "I have been waiting for you."He stiffened, then relaxed a little. "Sorry. I was held up."I kept my hand on h